Orangutans, the only remaining Asian great apes, are classified as Critically Endangered under the IUCN Red List. Of the three Bornean orangutan subspecies, Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus has the smallest population with fewer than 10,000 individuals remaining (Ancrenaz et al. 2016). In 1996, the lowland and peat swamp forests of the Danau Sentarum Wetlands supported 1,578 orangutans of this subspecies (Russon et al. 2001). The remaining orangutans in this area are mostly found in sites with both non-degraded forests and the presence of strong traditional beliefs and land use systems that help protect orangutans and forest (Yuliani et al. 2018a). The project aims to facilitate improvement of these communities’ livelihoods and protection of the remaining orangutans and their habitats.
We are a multidisciplinary team consisting of social science and ecology researchers, working in collaboration with the local NGO, Riak Bumi, and government and other local actors in Kapuas Hulu Regency, West Kalimantan.
What we do
We combine research to better understand how local people deal with conservation and development pressures, with efforts to build local communities’ agency/self-efficacy. Using Appreciative Inquiry methods within a framework of Participatory Action Research, we expect to catalyse learning, gender equality and transparency, and promote practical and environmentally friendly approaches to improving local livelihoods (Yuliani et al. 2015). This will be done through the following activities:
